AJT123

I know we are in car chat but this could apply here as well.

Picked up my boat today from the shop and my mechanic told me that virtually no gas stations are truly 100%. I avoid ethanol fuel like the plague because it wreaks havoc on my carbs (Yamaha 130 2 stroke). The guy is a great mechanic but I'm not so sure that's accurate? He said it all comes from the same tank and that there will be at least 5% ethanol at literally any gas station. He gave me some stabilizer to add to the fuel, so it's no big deal.

Just wondering some of you guys' opinions/knowledge on this claim?

geko29

I live in the corn belt, so it's been eons since I've seen ethanol-free fuel at a gas station that wasn't race fuel. The only source I know of is a product called "TruFuel", which would probably be insanely expensive to run in your bike (?), as it's about $25/gallon. Since it's a 2-stroke, I'd suggest looking at some of the synthetic oils specifically designed to buffer the ethanol and prevent the corrosion it can cause. I've used in my snowblowers to good effect in the past.

arentz07

This website has a publicly-editable database of gas stations that offer ethanol-free fuel, or at least supposedly.

https://www.pure-gas.org/

I personally contributed this one: https://www.pure-gas.org/station?station_id=41562

Now whether those gas stations are fibbing is not guaranteed.

mmarshall

From what I understand, the EPA will not allow true ethanol-free fuel (E0) to be sold for street use in the U.S. Different parts of the country, however, at different times of the year, may have shifts in the blends and oxygenation levels designed for hot vs.cold temperatures. And California, of course, has its own special requirements that make fuel blended for the state not cost-effective on a large enough scale....one of several reasons why fuel costs more there.

oldcajun

The EPA requires a certain amount of ethanol in the overall fuel supply but does not have a requirement that prohibits some of the fuel have no ethanol. It is left up to the states to require the ethanol and only 7 states currently have passes laws and one of them (Oregon) allows 0 ethanol in some premium fuels. Quote below is from one of the websites that reviewed the requirements.

"​​​​​​Under the Renewable Fuels Standard passed in 2007, the Federal government requires certain volumes of ethanol to be blended into the U.S. transportation fuel supply.
However, states have discretion as to how much (or how little) ethanol goes into fuels sold within their borders."

Lexmex

When I lived in Mexico there fuel was high sulfur, but they had an outright ban on ethanol gas despite the country producing a lot of corn, because they saw corn as a staple food.

mmarshall

Not sure about Mexico, but in the U.S., the staple-food argument is not an issue, first because of the tremendous amount of corn itself produced in our Midwestern states, and second, because the substandard grade of corn used for ethanol production is barely edible for farm animals, much less humans. It is certainly not something that you would want to put on the dinner table to feed your family.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

I wanna say all the regular pump gas here in the midwest has at least 9-11% ethanol. My brother's car has a Proefi display that shows you exactly how much ethanol content is in your gas.

arentz07

I have only run across a couple that had "no ethanol" or at least labeled as such. I stopped at a Sinclair near Stockton Lake, MO, and it said no ethanol, for both 87 and 91. But that's the one and only time I've seen 87 with no ethanol. Otherwise I've only seen 91 here in KCMO.

mmarshall

It also bears mentioning that, in general, all else equal, the higher the percentage of ethanol in the fuel to gasoline, the lower your average fuel mileage will be. That is because, while ethanol burns much cleaner than gasoline (which is one reason why the EPA requires it), it also has only about two thirds of the available energy in it than a comparable amount of gasoline. That's why the cruising range of E85 (85% ethanol) fuel is so short.

oldcajun

On a recent trip to Oregon, one of the local stations was advertising no ethanol 92 octane premium so I tried one tank in my '16 RX350 just to see if I could tell the difference. The gas mileage improved by about 10% (2.5 mpg) but I could tell no difference in either engine power or smoothness over my usual regular. The gas was almost 25% more expensive than regular, so my next tank went back to normal. I wonder if the results would be more significant on a turbocharged car.

mmarshall

In a turbocharged vehicles, I think the results would be more noticeable with acceleration rather than economy, as the primary purpose of the turbo is to get more power out of smaller engine-displacement. I say that because ethanol, in general, has a higher octane than even premium gasoline, allowing the turbo to run at a higher maximum boost-pressure (which artificially creates a higher compression ratio in the cylinders) before the anti-knock system detects pinging and retards the spark-timing or boost-pressure for less power.

wasjr

There have been many issues with ethanol having a negative impact on fuel systems in boats. Around here most of the marinas, and some gas stations near a lake will have ethanol free gas. I asked at the marina where I keep my boat and was told that there are few sources, but ethanol free gas is available, and obviously has a higher cost.

As an fyi, my boat has an outboard, and I use Sea Foam in the gas all the time as a cleaner and fuel stabilizer.